Newsquest York journalists vote for industrial action over job cuts

Members of the National Union of Journalists on Newsquest's York title have voted for industrial action over the threat of compulsory redundancy as the company's editorial staff in Darlington also staged protests against job cuts.

York Press union members voted 85% in favour of strike action after local management were unable to guarantee staff that there would be no more compulsory redundancies following a round of lay-offs last summer.

"The ballot result shows a clear determination by our members to stand up in defence of any colleague under threat of compulsory redundancy. We need to see clear guarantees from management that nobody will be forced to leave," said Jenny Lennox, the NUJ assistant northern organiser.

In a separate ballot members of the 30-strong Newsquest York chapel voted by 72% to take other forms of industrial action to fight a pay freeze imposed by the company. Union members will meet later this week to decide on the next stage of their campaign.

Union members at the York Press decided in early December to ballot for action after Newsquest, which is owned by US media giant Gannett, superseded earlier assurances of pay increases at the title with a company announcement of a pay freeze for all employees. This came into effect at the start of the year.

Meanwhile, around 60 NUJ members at Newsquest's Darlington centre, which produces the Northern Echo, walked out of the newsroom at midday yesterday to hold a mandatory union meeting, staying out all day in protest against planned job cuts and the pay freeze.

The Darlington Newsquest operation publishes the Northern Echo, the Darlington and Stockton Times, the Durham Times and the Advertiser series of free papers - employing around 100 editorial staff.

According to the union, Newsquest is seeking a cut in editorial budgets at Darlington that would equate to 11 editorial staff losing their jobs.

Eight staff have already taken voluntary redundancy at Newsquest's Darlington offices. NUJ members are protesting at three compulsory redundancies and further union meetings are planned for today and tomorrow.

"These are internal matters and we hope to continue discussion with the staff. So I don't think it would be appropriate to talk about it publicly," David Coates, the regional managing director for Newsquest North East, told MediaGuardian.co.uk.

These moves follow a number of cuts across Newsquest's regional publishing operation at the end of last year that included the publisher announcing plans to close 11 newspapers and a printing plant in the north-west, with further job losses.

Just days before Christmas it emerged that Newsquest also had plans to close its printing plant in York and split production between its presses in Bradford and at rival Trinity Mirror's facility in Teesside, placing up to 22 jobs at risk.

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